My name is John, and I never thought I would be doing this, but I have set up this page to help fund my little sister Theresa’s repatriation from Australia and the costs of her funeral. It has not been an easy decision for the family to take; it leaves. . . . .

My name is John, and I never thought I would be doing this, but I have set up this page to help fund my little sister Theresa’s repatriation from Australia and the costs of her funeral.

It has not been an easy decision for the family to take; it leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth to talk about money when something so profoundly devastating has happened. Unfortunately the reality is that the family are faced with the costs of shipping Theresa’s body back from Tasmania, where she died in a car crash, and with arranging a funeral worthy of such an amazing person.

Who was Theresa?

Theresa was 25 years old, the daughter to Alison and Donald, and the sister to me and Joe, our younger brother. She is also doted on by her grandmother, Grandma Betty, as she was her first granddaughter. Most of the family haven’t seen Theresa in person in about two years. Back in May 2014 Theresa left on an adventure which would turn out to be one of the defining periods in her life.

Before then she had forged some deep friendships and gained a reputation as a bit of a character who would always inject a little bit of healthy insanity into any party, or would give you a cuddle, a shoulder to cry on, and then a firm kick up the backside if you were feeling a bit low.

She left because she was doing what any 23-year-old does: she was trying to work out who she was and what the hell she was going to make of her life. She had been to Uni to study fashion business, but then returned home to earn money to fund a move to Paris, where she would make her big break. Working in her hometown in John Lewis department store dressing windows and displays. It seemed like the ideal first job for the time being, something made for her, as it allowed her to earn money and to have a creative outlet whilst also being on the periphery of the fashion industry. It would stand her in good stead for whatever her career would end up being.

By this time Theresa was reading a mix of trashy fashion magazines and philosophy books, a mix that would be familiar to anyone who knew Theresa’s blend of profound philosophical insight and drunken roar. It wasn’t until she went away that Theresa took her creativity to its logical peak, and she found that it was her life itself that should be used as the canvas onto which she would craft her creative output. You should be able to see what I mean if you watch the below video filmed by her friend Hannah.

We are still piecing together a full story of how she was when she was away, and how her journey and the people she met inspired and changed her. What is clear is that she touched a lot of people and developed rapidly as a person.

What do we want to do?

Theresa loved going to exhibitions, and so it seems appropriate that her funeral would take the form of an exhibition. What we would actually like to do is to put together an exhibition of Theresa’s life to showcase what an amazing person she was.

As happens in life, many people come in and out of your life at different points. Theresa’s closest friends in primary school might not have known the party animal that injected that little dose of utter craziness; many of her travelling companions will not have known much about Theresa’s childhood. We would like the funeral to be a celebration of every aspect of Theresa’s life, and a chance for people to learn more about her so that she can live on in some way, in the memories of the people that she has touched.

How do we plan to use the funds?

First and foremost the funds will go towards the repatriation of Theresa’s body. This is a complicated and expensive process, and it is still not yet clear how much this will actually cost in total, and usually runs into thousands of pounds. As messages of support have flooded in, so many people have asked about how they can contribute, and anonymous donations seems like the fairest and simplest way to go about it.

Secondly the funds will go towards planning the funeral to make it a suitable and worthy celebration of Theresa’s life. Primarily this will entail printing the materials that will make up the exhibition, but also hire of a large enough venue.

Any leftover funds will be donated to charity, and we will let you know the charity that we have chosen if this becomes necessary. I imagine we would find a charity that is somehow relevant to Theresa’s life and her own ethos, perhaps one that she would have encountered on her travels.

***

Actually permitting anonymous donations has not been easy. Any help that we accepted we would have preferred to have been given the opportunity to pay back in the future. After talking this over a lot, and after being overwhelmed by the number of people who have mentioned this, we have decided that this is the best method. We only ask that people give only as much as they want to, and not a penny more.

Thank you all,

The Falvey family

My name is John, and I never thought I would be doing this, but I have set up this page to help fund my little sister Theresa’s repatriation from Australia and the costs of her funeral.

It has not been an easy decision for the family to take; it leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth to talk about money when something so profoundly devastating has happened. Unfortunately the reality is that the family are faced with the costs of shipping Theresa’s body back from Tasmania, where she died in a car crash, and with arranging a funeral worthy of such an amazing person.

Who was Theresa?

Theresa was 25 years old, the daughter to Alison and Donald, and the sister to me and Joe, our younger brother. She is also doted on by her grandmother, Grandma Betty, as she was her first granddaughter. Most of the family haven’t seen Theresa in person in about two years. Back in May 2014 Theresa left on an adventure which would turn out to be one of the defining periods in her life.

Before then she had forged some deep friendships and gained a reputation as a bit of a character who would always inject a little bit of healthy insanity into any party, or would give you a cuddle, a shoulder to cry on, and then a firm kick up the backside if you were feeling a bit low.

She left because she was doing what any 23-year-old does: she was trying to work out who she was and what the hell she was going to make of her life. She had been to Uni to study fashion business, but then returned home to earn money to fund a move to Paris, where she would make her big break. Working in her hometown in John Lewis department store dressing windows and displays. It seemed like the ideal first job for the time being, something made for her, as it allowed her to earn money and to have a creative outlet whilst also being on the periphery of the fashion industry. It would stand her in good stead for whatever her career would end up being.

By this time Theresa was reading a mix of trashy fashion magazines and philosophy books, a mix that would be familiar to anyone who knew Theresa’s blend of profound philosophical insight and drunken roar. It wasn’t until she went away that Theresa took her creativity to its logical peak, and she found that it was her life itself that should be used as the canvas onto which she would craft her creative output. You should be able to see what I mean if you watch the below video filmed by her friend Hannah.

We are still piecing together a full story of how she was when she was away, and how her journey and the people she met inspired and changed her. What is clear is that she touched a lot of people and developed rapidly as a person.

What do we want to do?

Theresa loved going to exhibitions, and so it seems appropriate that her funeral would take the form of an exhibition. What we would actually like to do is to put together an exhibition of Theresa’s life to showcase what an amazing person she was.

As happens in life, many people come in and out of your life at different points. Theresa’s closest friends in primary school might not have known the party animal that injected that little dose of utter craziness; many of her travelling companions will not have known much about Theresa’s childhood. We would like the funeral to be a celebration of every aspect of Theresa’s life, and a chance for people to learn more about her so that she can live on in some way, in the memories of the people that she has touched.

How do we plan to use the funds?

First and foremost the funds will go towards the repatriation of Theresa’s body. This is a complicated and expensive process, and it is still not yet clear how much this will actually cost in total, and usually runs into thousands of pounds. As messages of support have flooded in, so many people have asked about how they can contribute, and anonymous donations seems like the fairest and simplest way to go about it.

Secondly the funds will go towards planning the funeral to make it a suitable and worthy celebration of Theresa’s life. Primarily this will entail printing the materials that will make up the exhibition, but also hire of a large enough venue.

Any leftover funds will be donated to charity, and we will let you know the charity that we have chosen if this becomes necessary. I imagine we would find a charity that is somehow relevant to Theresa’s life and her own ethos, perhaps one that she would have encountered on her travels.

***

Actually permitting anonymous donations has not been easy. Any help that we accepted we would have preferred to have been given the opportunity to pay back in the future. After talking this over a lot, and after being overwhelmed by the number of people who have mentioned this, we have decided that this is the best method. We only ask that people give only as much as they want to, and not a penny more.

Proudly funded by

Anonymous

Firstly, an apology for having taken such a long time to post this update, it's been a long while since the everything happened. All I can say is that we are all trying to move on, and it's taking a time.

I wanted to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you on behalf of the whole family to each and every person who donated to Theresa's fund. It has been a huge help in a time of intense sadness, and has meant that we have not had to shoulder too much of the financial burden of Theresa's repatriation and the celebration of her life.

The event itself was a great success and a chance for everyone to remember what an inspiration Theresa is to us all. I hope those that were there have taken something away from it and allowed a little bit of Theresa's craziness to inspire you in some way.

To those who were not able to make it to the exhibition, we won't be throwing any of the materials away, so there is always the chance to come and see for yourselves, just get in touch.

Firstly, an apology for having taken such a long time to post this update, it's been a long while since the everything happened. All I can say is that we are all trying to move on, and its taking a while.

I wanted to extended a sincere and heartfelt thank you on behalf of the whole family to everyone who donated to Theresa's fund. It has been a huge help in a time of intense sadness, and has meant that we have not had to shoulder too much of the financial burden of Theresa's repatriation and the celebration of her life.

The event itself was a great success and a chance for everyone to remember what an inspiration Theresa is to us all. I hope those that were there have taken something away from it and allowed a little bit of Theresa's craziness to inspire you in some way.

To those who were not able to make it to the exhibition, we won't be throwing any of the materials away, so there is always the chance to come and see for yourselves, just get in touch.

Just to update you all as the venue for the celebration of Theresa's life has been changed. Previously we were going to be in the Hunton Park Hotel, whereas now we will be in Shendish Manor in Apsley. This is still not too far from the crematorium.

Didn't want to mess you all around but in the end the previous venue gave us no choice as there were several issues that couldn't be resolved.

So the revised timetable is:

11:00 Sacred Heart Church

12:40 West Herts Crematorium

13:30 Shendish Manor

For those who would like to come later, or who can only come later in the day, that's fine as the Shendish Manor part is being viewed as the main event. We have the room until well into the evening. (Apsley is around 6 stops on the fast London Midland train out of Euston, for those who want to come from London)

Just to update you all as the venue for the celebration of Theresa's life has been changed. Previously we were going to be in the Hunton Park Hotel, whereas now we will be in Shendish Manor in Apsley. This is still not too far from the crematorium.

Didn't want to mess you all around but in the end the previous venue gave us no choice as there were several issues that couldn't be resolved.

So the revised timetable is:

11:00 Sacred Heart Church

12:40 West Herts Crematorium

13:30 Shendish Manor

For those who would like to come later, or who can only come later in the day, that's fine as the Shendish Manor part is being viewed as the main event. We have the room until well into the evening. (Apsley is around 6 stops on the fast London Midland train out of Euston, for those who want to come from London)

Firstly a huge thanks to everyone who has donated. The family have been totally overwhelmed by the show of support, we have thus far managed to raise over £9,000 in just over 3 days, which is amazing! It is not only a great comfort to know that we are not facing the financial cost of Theresa’s death on our own, but is also proof (if we ever needed it) that Theresa touched an incredible number of people in her short life. We have had donations from all corners of the globe, and we would like to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed, however much that may have been - every penny has meant an incredible amount to us all!

I am pleased to say that Theresa will be returning to the UK this bank holiday weekend. We are really glad that we will be given the opportunity to see Theresa before her funeral, so that we can begin to come to terms with her death, after her having been out of the country for such a long time.

As promised, I also wanted to let everyone know when the funeral is; we now have a date, time and place. There will be a short ceremony in Sacred Heart Church, Bushey at 11:00 on Friday 15th April. We will then be cremating Theresa at West Herts Crematorium at 12:40. We have then booked the Hunton Park Hotel for the exhibition, where people will be able to learn more about Theresa’s life and also celebrate what an amazing person she was.

If any of you would like to contribute to the exhibition, we would love to hear stories and anecdotes of your experiences with Theresa, whether these were in early childhood, school, work, Uni, or on the road in Asia. If there are photos to go with these, please feel free to send these through to me also.

Thanks to everyone for all the support.

Love,

John + family

I will try and come to the exhibition if that’s ok - would be interested to see it. With kind regards and best wishes, Lesley Blee

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Firstly, an apology for having taken such a long time to post this update, it's been a long while since the everything happened. All I can say is that we are all trying to move on, and it's taking a time. I wanted to extend a sincere and heartfelt th…

Hi everyone,Firstly, an apology for having taken such a long time to post this update, it's been a long while since the everything happened. All I can say is that we are all trying to move on, and its taking a while. I wanted to extended a sincere an…

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